Love is a babysitter
by whitefairy
Summary: Woo hoo! SRMTHG Newbie at work! My OC, Ichigo, meets up with Chiro after she moved out of Shugazoom City 6 years ago and is soon wrapped up in one of their adventures! ?XOC NovaXSprx
1. Just Another Boring day

Disclaimer: (Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!)

A/N: Okay peeps, this is my very first SRMFHG! Fanfic! audience cheers so let's hope it's a good'un!

( )translated from fairy this means Whitefairy owns nothing but her doodling pad and her apprentice/ pet, Fluffy the flame- eating feline.

**Love is a baby sitter**

**Just another boring day**

It was a bright day; birds were chirping, animals were frolicking merrily and Mariah Carey music was playing softly in the background. (No seriously! It is!) But enough about that!

In Shugazoom, people ran screaming for their lives as a giant robot smashed into the road behind them with a giant mutated cockroach on top of it. Ah yes, it was another ordinary day for the citizens of Shugazoom, who were so used to running for their lives that they were all champion sprinters and so used to screaming that their voices had become unnaturally loud, even when someone whispered. And as these super sprinters ran like crazy, the giant robot continued to throw everything it had at the mutated insect. However; inside the robot, a very different battle was being waged. A battle that pitted a certain yellow monkey against a certain red monkey.

"You stupid, useless, waste of space, piece of hairdryer lint! This is all _your_ fault!" screeched Nova as the robot took another smack to the head from the 'roach. Sprx looked, incredulously, at the screen which had Nova's angry face on it,

"My fault!" he shouted back, the robot got whammed hard in the chest, "oof! How is it my fault!" he asked, picking himself up from off the floor and sitting back in his seat. He glared back up at the screen to see that the knock had caused Nova to fall over and he currently had a yellow butt in his face, well not in his face but you know what I mean, in his screen's face.

"Why, that's the best side of you I've seen all day, Nova!" he joked whilst said yellow monkey swore angrily at him as she righted herself. "Screw you, Sprx!" she yelled.

"Please, not now, Nova! I know you want me, but I'm afraid your lustful intentions will have to wait 'til after..."

"You perverted freak of nature!" she shrieked, blushing at full force as she screamed insults in every language she knew and even invented a few more that made sailors everywhere cover their ears and tutt disapprovingly.

Meanwhile, the mutated 'roach seemed to be writhing in pain on the floor. "AAAAAH!" it screamed, rolling around, "Oh Gawd (this must be pronounced with your best British accent), it burns! IT BUUUUUURRRNSS!"

"Huh?" said Otto, staring out at the 'roach as it started to burn and melt before them, "it's melting?" he asked in disbelief. "It talks?" said Chiro, standing up in his very small compartment and smacking his head on the ceiling, causing him to sit back down and repeat a few of the words he just learnt off Nova. "It's British!" cried the audience that I'm very surprised is still here. But yes, the 'roach was melting, talking and British and soon, was nothing more than a very nasty puddle, left for the cleaners to sort out.

So; with peace restored to Shugazoom, the monkey team relaxed. "But I still don't understand!" whined Otto, "why did it melt? And talk? And why da heck was it British!" he cried to Gibson, whose head was in a cupboard. "No idea" said Gibson, as he put away the insect killer and locked the baby-proof lock on the cupboard that they used to keep curious little monkeys, and children, from ingesting anything poisonous. (Safety first, kids!)

And, on the other side of the robot, Nova sped around the rooms they slept in, chasing Sprx and still yelling insults at him (yes she'd never stopped!) as well as a few death threats. Sprx dived behind his pod thingy (what is that thing? A tube or a pod-bed whatchamacallit? It changes!) And covered his head, before peeking out, "I think you already said that one" he mentioned, then dived back in as Nova let out a war-cry and flew at him, fist ready to smash him to bits. "OoooooOOOoooooOOOOOOOWWW!" he howled as tears formed in his eyes. Wait, tears? Nova looked down to where her hand had connected and gasped, causing her hand to fly from Sprx's... place to cover her mouth in shock. Sprx rolled forwards, curling up into a tight ball, with his tail wrapped around him (like cats do, except they don't clutch themselves in agony) wailing and crying in agony as he rolled from side to side. Nova stared in shock before running out to get Gibson.

"So, _how _did it happen again?" asked Chiro as he watched Gibson work on Sprx to restore his 'family- producing equipment' as Chiro had nicknamed it though Otto's name had been ruder but more exact, and Sprx continued to howl in agony. Though Chiro couldn't blame Sprx for making such a fuss, he crossed his legs in empathy for his fellow male and team mate. However, Nova had taken quite a change of heart, from the moment she got in; she'd kept apologizing and asking if she could do anything to help. "It seems Nova had become enraged and managed to punch Sprx in a... ahem... _sensitive _area." Antauri explained calmly, although he winced slightly near the end, probably in empathy for his fellow primate. "Nova, please go stand over there!" shouted Gibson in annoyance and pointing at a corner far away from where he was working on Sprx. "But...but..." she said, looking desperately at Sprx, who smiled back bravely. "Hey, don't worry about me, girl" he said smiling at her, "I've survived worse." he then gritted his teeth to stop himself screaming as Gibson worked on. He looked up again and smiled sheepishly, "heh heh" he said, putting a hand behind his head. "You sure?" she asked quietly, Sprx looked up into her eyes and saw something there, something very unNovaish, something warm and kind and gentle and, before he knew it, he felt himself pulling closer to Nova. Closer and closer they drew until...

"Ahem" came a voice nearby, they both turned to face Gibson, faces inches from each other, he scowled at Nova and pointed dramatically at the door, "out!" he cried. Nova jumped slightly at his outburst and, blushing like mad, walked quickly out of the medical room.

"Whatcha do that for, Gibson?" cried Chiro, "it was just getting good!" he whined, whilst Sprx tried to hide his face, which was glowing now. "Indeed" said Gibson, in a deadpan sort of voice, "although it seems it was getting _too _good for Sprx here."

Sprx looked up and bristled slightly, "and what's that supposed to mean!" he asked. Gibson sighed, moved back and pointed to where he was working. Sprx looked down and his eyes widened. "Ah... I uh...well um... oh God!" he moaned in defeat as he dropped his head into his hands, face glowing again. Chiro snorted slightly in amusement and Otto just burst out laughing. "Shut up!" cried Sprx, face burning, then started howling in pain again as Gibson resumed working.

Well... there it is. Newborn and proud, my latest malfunction. So... review please? Heh, oh and bonus cookies to those who review first and those who manage to guess who I'm pairing my OC, Ichigo, with.


	2. An old friend remembered

Disclaimer: Jellyfish! Yay!

Thanks to:

Twister91: Lol don't worry I'm sure Sprx'll do _something _to annoy Nova!

Beastfire: (bows like crazy) I'm soooo totally not worthy, but thanks for reviewing! And, I'm afraid the pairing isn't with Gibson, but you'll find out in this chapter anyway.

KitKat: Good! I was aiming for different. smiles

A Fan of Romance: lol, don't worry! I'm sure there'll be plenty more!

Kiozona.pop: Um… sorry to disappoint you, but it isn't _that _Ichigo. It's my OC who is _named _Ichigo. But you're right that that's where I got the name from! And I love Tokyo Mew Mew too!

P.S to everyone else: Go see Tokyo Mew Mew; it's the greatest, girliest thing ever!

Novfangirl: lol I know, oh well. Don't worry! I'm sure Sprx won't give up trying!

Anonymous But Interested: Well done! You're right. The only one so far (including my school friends, gives you cookies) and I'm glad it ain't half- bad.

Robotmonkey4ever: I'm glad you think so. Hopefully the rest will be too!

Guy who reads too much fantasy: Um... maybe it'd be better if you didn't look into that problem too much. Heh (sweat drop)... but I'm glad you enjoyed it!

**An old friend remembered**

It was early on a Saturday morning, and those that had to work were sharing similar pained looks on their faces as they trudged along. It was around this time, a train pulled into Shugazoom City train station, and a small mass of travellers and tired-looking employees moved out, well, en masse. Once out, they spread out, some headed for other trains, some for their jobs, and others to various different places. And, among these other people, was a particular person. One who stood out more, one who the other passengers had tried to avoid more than any other passenger, well not as much as that creepy hobo who walked around in a loincloth and waved a sign around, but they still avoided her like the plague. Why? Because they were shallow, low-life, no good, lousy, little... um. I mean, because she was albino. Yes, they were afraid that if they touched or sat near to her they would become diseased too. But she wasn't bitter, no; she actually preferred the solitude, as she'd always been with her twin brother before she came out here. They would always be together, eating, playing, sleeping etc. So she'd smiled to herself and relished the extra space that was never possible to get on trains. But now, she was out and free, breathing in the fresh air. She dumped her bag on the floor and relished the view of the city she'd left six years ago when her dad got promoted. She stood up and one could see that she was actually kinda short, for a sixteen year old at least, with a medium build ( the I-do-eat-but-I'm-not-obese sort of size) and her white hair was tied loosely back in a pony tail and it spilled out down to the small of her back messily. Her bright, blue eyes shone with tears as she smiled nostalgically at her old home, and she wrapped her pale arms around herself to keep warm as she stared, then she picked up her bag and walked into the city.

Inside the Super Robot, the Monkey Team slept on peacefully. And, each was having their own dreams and fantasies fulfilled. Sprx moaned quietly in his sleep as he rolled onto his side... um yeah, let's leave him alone. But, someone was about to have a dream that would change his life forever.

_Antauri looked around to see that he was on a bed and beside him laid another robot monkey. This startled him, he'd never seen this one before; she was small, a lot shorter than he was, and white, with a pink stomach and end to her tail, the stripe on her head was light blue with a pink heart shape on her forehead and around her neck was a dark blue ribbon with a heart shaped gem on it that seemed to glow with happiness. She had white wings that were joined to her magnetically, so they seemed to float up and down as she breathed. She looked so peaceful, so sweet, and so... beautiful. He knew he'd never seen her before yet he felt so strongly attached to her that he crawled over and reached down to kiss her. "Antauri?" came a small quiet voice, he looked up in shock and saw that she was awake, she smiled at him and he felt a strange sensation in his lower stomach. She closed her eyes again "I love you" she whispered, he couldn't help smiling and he was about to reply when the room started to melt before his eyes. He gasped. _Antauri sat up in his bed and looked around. Nothing. No girl there. It'd been a dream. He flopped back down with a sigh, letting his mind wander as he stared at the ceiling. 'Who was that?' he thought, pondering mildly if it _had_ been a dream or a premonition before falling asleep again.

Chiro grumbled to himself as he rifled through the junk he kept in his cupboards. Toys, books, clothes and various objects flew out behind him as he searched through the mess. Sprx dodged the projectiles as he made his way to Chiro, curious to see what Chiro was looking for. "Hey kid" he said as he dodged a book, "Whatcha looking for?" he watched Chiro sit up then turn and smile at him. "Hey Sprx" he said, before turning back to the mess, "I was just looking for my old photo album. That's all." Sprx looked down at the mess, then back, "whatever you want it for must be pretty special for you to try digging through that mess. Seriously, kid, you sure it ain't decomposed being in that pile so long?" he joked, looking at Chiro, who looked doubtfully at the pile. "I hope not" he said, "I just wish I could find it" before readying himself to dig through. "Perhaps, I could help?" asked a deep voice from the doorway. Chiro and Sprx looked back to see Antauri hovering over the battlefield of Chiro's bedroom towards them. He landed in front of them and looked at the pile, "umm Antauri? How are _you _gonna find this thing, when you 1: don't know what it _looks_ like and 2: Are more likely to just get sucked into it?" asked Sprx, looking from monkey to pile in disbelief. Antauri smiled at him, before lifting his hand and causing the pile to shift, revealing a dark blue, battered photo album with My Album scrawled on the front. "That's how" he said simply, before reaching in to pull out the album. He handed it to Chiro, looking at it curiously, "why do you need this, Chiro?" he asked, as Chiro flipped through the pages of old, tatty photos. Some showed Chiro as a baby, others had his friends in them. Then Chiro stopped on a page with pictures of him with a girl and a boy. The weird thing was, the two kids looked identical. They both looked about 10, had bright blue eyes, deathly pale skin, and pure white hair to their shoulders. But; what shocked Antauri was that the girl's eyes seemed exactly like the monkey girl's from his dream, and the more he looked, the more similarities he noticed. He shook his head, and looked up at Chiro, "Chiro? Who is that girl?" he asked, pointing to a picture with said girl in it. Chiro looked at where Antauri pointed, "Oh that's Ichigo! She was my babysitter years and years ago, before she moved away. And that..." he pointed to the boy beside her, "was her twin brother Ryou (yes I also got this name from Tokyo Mew Mew too! Go girliness!). In fact, she's the reason I was digging through that mess, I got a letter from her saying she was moving back into Shugazoom, to study at Shugazoom University! Well, I kinda offered her to stay here with us, then I went all nostalgic and wanted to remind myself of how she looked when she lived here before" Antauri continued to stare at the girl in a slightly disbelieving way, "what's up, Antauri? Don't tell me you've fallen for her!" joked Sprx, nudging Antauri with his elbow. Antauri's head shot straight and one could see the tiniest of blushes on his face (Aww cute!), "No!" he said quickly, "I mean, no, no it isn't that at all! It's just..." "That you fancy her." cut off Sprx, who promptly started to do..., inappropriate actions. "Sprx!" yelled Antauri, face now slightly more red (you can't see it much cos of his black fur, see?), "It isn't that! Besides, I would never do such... _appalling _things to a little girl" Chiro chose that moment to appear again, "Um... actually, she won't be a little girl anymore; this photo was taken six years ago, when she was ten, so now she's..." "One hot chick, woo cha!" cut in Sprx, startling Chiro and resulting in being smacked up the head by Antauri, who was now glowing bright red despite the black fur, Sprx looked up and winked at Antauri, "and I'm sure Antauri would _looove _to meet her!" he teased, a big grin trying to take over his face. Antauri's eyes widened as Sprx began to describe how... voluptuous the older Ichigo would be. He gasped and was about to yell at him, when someone beat him to it. (and I'm sure we can guess who? Right, kids?) "Sprx!" yelled an enraged female voice, making everyone in the room turn to the source. There, in her intimidating full 2' 4" height (no idea if that's true. Just guessing, but she _is_ small), stood a very cranky, very wet, very frightening Nova. "Uh, Nova! Hey babe! What's up? Why are you soaked? Or is that what happens whenever you see me now?" he flashed his ever- perverted grin, looking up and down Nova as she steamed (literally! She was so ticked that the water on her was evaporating!), causing Sprx's grin to waver slightly. "Seriously, Nova, why _are _you... _drenched_" asked Antauri, checking himself quickly, so as not to add more perverted thoughts to growing list in Sprx's head. "I'll tell you _why_, Antauri" said Nova, in a dangerously quiet voice, "_that _freaking pervert!" she yelled, pointing at Sprx, "Changed the timer on the shower so all the water came out cold after he used it!" she snarled, glaring at said monkey. Sprx stared back at her, then, as innocently as he could, said, "Ho- how'd you know it was me? Or were you watching me in the shower, Nova?" he added, slyly on the end. Nova blushed, then threw a damp magazine in his face, "I found _that_ in there!" Antauri looked over and saw it was a Playmonkey magazine; he gasped and quickly covered Chiro's eyes. "Wha? Hey, Antauri!" Chiro whined, trying to free himself, "what's wrong? Let go!" Antauri tried to collect himself, whilst still covering Chiro's eyes, "there are things in that magazine that aren't for little boys!" he said quickly, signalling to Sprx that he should hide it. Sprx quickly ran out with said magazine, Nova trailing after and a line of water trailing her. Antauri breathed a sigh of relief and uncovered Chiro's eyes. "I'm sorry, Chiro, but that magazine isn't appropriate for your age group" he explained once Chiro had turned to face him. Chiro humphed indignantly, "Shows what you know, Sprx has already _shown _me one of his Playmonkey magazines!" he said, triumphantly, Antauri facevaulted and looked pretty stunned. "He- he what!" yelled Antauri, steaming mad that Sprx would do such a thing. "Yeah" said Chiro, grinning, "Here! I'll show it to you!" he said, jumping up and searching. Antauri jumped slightly, "Umm... no, that's alright, Chiro, IneedtogofindSprxandkillhim.Bye!" and with that he ran like crazy from Chiro's bedroom. Gibson and Otto (where da heck have _they_ been?) watched as their second in command ran screaming out death threats at Sprx and Chiro appeared at his doorway after. He raised an eyebrow, "What's the deal?" said Chiro, holding up a children's comic book, "I was just gonna show him the Play Monkey comic, Sprx gave me!"

Well? How was that? Too long? Too pointless? Review and tell me your thoughts. Oh, and for those who couldn't, or are too lazy to, figure out the pairing: it is AntauriXOC! Cookies for all who thought right!


	3. Delays

Disclaimer: OhmigodI'vejusthadtwoglassesofcokeandawholepackofjaffacakesandnowI'msohyperI'mbouncingoffthewalls!

Once again, thanks to:

Guy who reads too much fantasy: Egad, you're right! Umm... well I'll try and make more paragraphs from now on! (Is amazed at mahoosive paragraph and sweat drops)

4Everobotmonkeyfan: I'll try and keep Antauri in character as much as possible, but I'm afraid even my great authoress powers can't make Sprx grow up!

Beastfire: hope you don't bust a gut from all this giggling and, for the record; there are two types of Playmonkey magazine: the kiddie comic and the... um _older_ version. I'm sure you can guess which version Sprx likes!

Anonymous But Interested: Done? Yes. Tastefully? Well... we'll see. And don't worry about the typo, I knew what you meant. (smiles)

**Delays**

Well, after Gibson had repaired Sprx as Antauri had totalled him, all was revealed about the comic, leaving Antauri to sheepishly apologize to Sprx for all he'd done then he got left with the job of trying to explain to a very confused Chiro why he'd knocked seven bells out of Sprx. Also, Nova was _not _happy at having anyone but her beat up Sprx, so she was having a vow of silence towards Antauri (if you don't call it that, it means she ain't talking to him and is probably giving him the evil eye to boot!) And, where did that leave Gibson and Otto? Stuck in between trying to make peace between the rest. Without much success either.

"C'mon Nova!" begged Otto, "it was all a BIG misunderstanding! How was Antauri meant to know there were _two _magazines with the same name?" he'd tried this line already but he was running out of ways to convince her. He'd tried puppy eyes, begging, a combo of both, crying, shouting, bribes, and promises of she could have first dibs in the training room. None had worked so far and, from the looks of it, nothing was _going _to work. Otto sighed as Nova just turned away from him.

"Are you siding with him then, Otto?" she asked her voice low with menace. Otto sweated and tried to think of something, "I ain't taking anyone's side!" he said defensively, silently congratulating himself on being so smart.

"In other words; you're with _him _but you're too scared to admit it!" she accused, pointing at him, "traitor! Otto, I can't believe you'd _do_ this to me!" and with that she ran off.

"Nova! Wait!" called Otto, before chasing after her down the corridor.

"I'm just saying, perhaps you two should try _talking this through_" explained Gibson for the millionth time, he glared at the back of the black monkey's head and felt a massive headache coming on. Then he tried a different angle, "you're acting quite immature, Antauri." He smiled as Antauri froze, then it fell crashing to the floor when Antauri turned and glared at him.

"Am I, Gibson?" Antauri questioned, slowly stalking up to Gibson, "Or are you too blind to see just how immature Nova is being?" Gibson spluttered silently, before realizing what Antauri had said. He huffed indignantly,

"Are you saying I'm too primitive to understand your juvenile disagreements!" he shouted, standing up as tall as he could. Antauri calmly glared back (is that possible?),

"Yes." he simply said, Gibson roared before jumping at him. But Antauri had seen this coming, and moved to the side so Gibson flew past. However, Gibson managed to get a hold on Antauri's tail and, when he landed; he pulled Antauri's tail as hard as he could. But, he soon learnt that that wasn't a smart thing to do. He noticed Antauri change, he somehow _darkened_ and when he turned around Gibson got the fright of his life! He ran like the devil was chasing him, which, from the way Antauri looked, was pretty close. Antauri looked just like he had when he was possessed (can't remember the episode name, the one with the giant eyeball thing, just pretend Chiro showed them CCTV footage of them when they were possessed), and he snarled and foamed at the mouth as he chased Gibson down the corridors.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE" squealed Gibson as he ran at Mach 5 to try and escape the used to be calm and stoic second in command.

Meanwhile, Chiro walked down a different corridor with Sprx in tow. Sprx hadn't left the kid's side since he'd been released from the medical ward, he'd never admit it, but he was scared that Antauri would go nuts on his tail again. They reached the crossroad between the different corridors when Chiro finally decided he'd had enough of Sprx clinging to him, he yanked the monkey off and placed him in front of him,

"Sprx" he sighed as the monkey looked around wildly in fear of Antauri, "that fight was a one-off, I doubt Antauri would ever attack you again! He's too calm and nice to do something like that without a reason." Sprx stopped shaking and nodded confidently,

"Yeah, you're right kid! Besides, even if that old fuzz face _did _try it again, I'd be ready. Hoo ha!" Sprx leapt into the middle of the crossroads doing karate kicks and punches. "Hoo h-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH" he screamed as Gibson flew into him, soon followed by a psychotic looking Antauri and, soon, there was a massive dust ball around them as a fight broke out.

From somewhere else, Chiro saw Nova run blindly into the brawl and was soon involved as well, as was Otto, who couldn't stop in time. There were screams and shouts and sounds of metal clashing on metal as the Monkey Team fought on.

A few hours later, all the robot monkeys lay on beds in the medical ward as Gibson weakly explained what Chiro had to do. Though it didn't help that he could barely talk with a swollen lip, and aching all over.

Soon, all the machines needed were running and Chiro had managed to fix Otto so he could help, even though he was very reluctant to fix Nova and Sprx who he blamed for all of this.

But, it seemed no amount of fixing or coaxing would calm Sprx, who was curled up in a ball on his bed with his eye twitching and sucking on the end on his tail like a child would suck on their thumb. He mumbled something briefly about being cursed and evil authoresses and rabid black monkeys before just resorting to whimpering. Pretty soon, everyone had given up on Sprx and they were now sitting in the main room, staring at the ground ashamed as Chiro stood in front and glared at them. He tapped his foot like an angry mother as he waited,

"Well?" he demanded, looking at the monkeys who flinched and sunk lower in their chairs. He paced slightly, kinda like head teachers (or principals if you're in America) do before they suddenly launch into a massive lecture.

"Two fights. _Two fights_" said Chiro incredulously, "and both left Sprx a shaking miserable wreck. And _you_" he said, pointing at Antauri, "were in _both. _And, apparently, caused them!"

"That's not true!" Antauri called suddenly, his head snapping up. Chiro glared him down and he sunk down very low in his chair, bottom lip sticking out as he pouted (cuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuute!).

Chiro sighed as he stared up at the clock and he jumped slightly,

"Omigod! I forgot! I've gotta go meet Ichigo!" he called, running for his orange tube. But, before he could get there, they felt a shake go through the Super Robot, causing Chiro to fall flat on his face. He stood up again and ran over to the monitor, tapping various buttons.

"Maybe, I should do it?" asked Gibson tentatively, still unsure if Chiro was angry with them. Chiro moved back silently as Gibson tapped the right code into the computer. The screen flickered to life and they looked out to see a giant slug like creature slowly oozing its way through Shugazoom towards them.

"Aww man!" whined Chiro, as they ran to their tubes and prepared to fight this new threat, "this is _really _gonna make me late!"

Well? Good? Bad? Cruddy? I know it's shorter, but I figured that was a good place to stop and I'll finallyintroduce Ichigo next chapter. Hopefully. And yes, Antauri was massively OOC, but, as you'll see in the next chapter, he _does _have a reason to be cranky. And I want your opinions: should I be nicer to Sprx from now on or continue the abuse until the end?

Sprx: (limps on crutches with an arm in a sling and bites, scratches, cuts and bruises all over him) Please be nice, please!


	4. Meetings!

Disclaimer: Mlearrrrrrrrgh! This is morning talk for I don't own anything!

A Fan of Romance: (beams happily) I'm glad you think so!

Beastfire: Well Ok then! You hear that, Sprx?

Sprx: (is crying)

Well, maybe I'll let one or two nice things happen to him. Just to be nice.

Guy who reads too much fantasy: oh dear. I feel that I should've explained the changes a little better. You see Chiro _is _naïve, being ten years old or something like that, so he wouldn't know about..._those things_ yet. BUT, he's the leader of the team, which means that sometimes he has to take on a sort of parenting role. I was trying to show that despite him being young and innocent and whatnot, he's still leader and can take charge when he needs to. And as for Antauri, well... you'll just have to see! Hope it makes more sense now, if not do tell me what would help. (wow that was long)

P.S: Do remember that this doesn't have _too _much in the way of a point at the moment, so don't look too much in depth at it. I'm just trying to keep up the funnies for when the serious stuff hits later! (Grins)

Anonymous But Interested: oh! Uh (looks from Anonymous But Interested then at Beastfire and back) uh... (Sweat drops) I'll try and please you both! I'll think of something! But I'm glad you're enjoying this story.

Sprx: (is crying and hugging out of happiness) Oh thank you! Thank you! There_ is_ a god!

Twister91: WF: (to monkey team) what do you monkeys have to say?

Monkey team except Otto: Sorry Jet for hurting your boyfriend.

WF: That's better.

**Meetings and Apologies**

And so, the Monkey Team activated the Super Robot; ready for another day of kicking monster butt. Except the atmosphere inside the Robot was _less_ than happy. The tension between the group was so thick that Otto felt a knot form in his stomach with unease.

They fired rockets, drills lasers and everything else they had at the slug mutant and tried every tactical strategy they knew, but everything was recoiled back at them by the slug monster's rubbery hide. And with each failing idea, Nova slowly grew more and more irritable until...

"YAAAH!" she cried as she disengaged her foot cruiser from the rest of the Super Robot, causing all of the different parts to disengage too, flew at the slug monster and started to beat the living daylights out of the thing. Pretty soon, all that was left of the monster was splattered all over Shugazoom and its citizens, who had been too tired to run (bear in mind it _was _Saturday morning), and Nova let out a happy sigh at being able to get out her anger in a 'constructive' way. However, the others weren't impressed,

"That manoeuvre was NOT a wise choice" said Antauri critically, once they had joined back together,

"Stow it, Antauri" growled Nova, glaring at the screen in front of her, Antauri facevaulted at Nova's comment and glared at her,

"Nova, the wise monkey does not..."

"the wise monkey better shut up if he doesn't want a knuckle sandwich!" growled Nova, cracking her knuckles (urgggh! Shudders I hate it when people do that!). Antauri humphed and put his hands on his hips,

"How dare you threaten me, Nova? I'm sure Chiro would have to agree that this behaviour is most uncalled for!" He flipped a switch to reveal Chiro's empty seat. Antauri jumped out of his seat and managed to hit the ceiling. He grabbed his head in pain and looked out onto the screen,

"Chiro?" he called into the screen, then switched it to outside. "Chiro!" he called out again, turning the Robot around to see the surroundings.

"Wait!" said Otto, pointing, "There he is!" the Monkey Team looked out to see Chiro running up to someone. In half a second, they were all running out of the Super Robot to follow him.

"Ichigo!" Chiro called out, running up to a short, teenaged albino girl. She continued to stare up in awe at the Super Robot that had just beat the snot out of that thing earlier. She looked down when she realised someone was shouting at her and was soon bombarded by a boy nearly as tall as her. She gasped,

"Chiro! That you!" she asked, bewildered by how much he'd changed in six years, "my Lord! You've... _grown_" she laughed, patting on his head. He put his hand behind his head and laughed sheepishly.

"Chiro?" he heard behind him; he turned to see his team looking from him to the girl and back, "Who's that?" asked Nova. Ichigo heard the monkeys and looked around Chiro, she gasped and her eyes lit up,

"Monkeys! Cute! Aaaaw, they're so adorable! Are they yours, Chiro?" she turned to him with big hopeful eyes. He sweat dropped, he'd forgotten how much of an animal lover Ichigo was, then he nodded and laughed.

"Yep" he said proudly, Ichigo squealed and ran over to them.

"Aaaaw, they really are just adorable, Chiro!" she gushed, reaching out to pet Nova. Nova growled and Ichigo quickly withdrew her hand. "I uh... take they don't like to be touched." she said nervously, as Nova growled at her. She kept her hands close to her chest and looked over at Chiro,

"Nah" he said simply. "That's Nova, she's just a little cranky today" As he said this, Nova started jumping up and down and started screaming at Chiro.

"Cranky! Who're _you _calling cranky! I'm _perfectly calm_!" she screeched, left eye twitching slightly as a vein throbbed on her temple.

Ichigo watched as the monkey ran over to Chiro and screamed at him angrily.

"So, they understand you?" Ichigo asked, looking back at the remaining monkeys, who all nodded. Chiro backed away from Nova slightly,

"Uh.. Yeah! Yeah they do! And if my translator worked, you could understand them too!"

"Oh." said Ichigo sadly, she wanted to understand them as well. She looked over at the remaining calm monkeys, "So... do they mind being petted or will they growl at me as well?" she asked, slightly nervous. Chiro was now running in circles to try and avoid Nova,

"Um.. What do you guys think?" he asked the monkeys, they looked at each other and smiled. They turned back and nodded, "there's your answer." concluded Chiro, before swerving to avoid Nova. Ichigo smiled and walked over to them, Chiro ran past again and called out,

"Otto's the friendliest! But Antauri's the calmest, though he was a bit off today... Sprx'll probably like being petted though, but I'm not sure if Gibson would really like it..." he stopped to ponder this for a moment, before realising Nova hadn't stopped chasing him. He swerved again and took off in the opposite direction. Meanwhile, Ichigo tried to soak this information, but, as she didn't know which monkey was which, it was pretty futile. She turned back to the monkeys and looked thoughtful again, 'I'll just go for one at random, Chiro said they wouldn't mind anyway' she thought as she reached to pet Antauri's cheek. Antauri froze slightly, not sure whether to stand there or move away. Soon, it was too late and he felt cool, soft fingers envelope his cheek and a smooth thumb gently stroked over his fur. He had to admit, this felt _nice._ Unconsciously; he started to rub against her hand and smiled happily. He closed his eyes and Ichigo heard him coo softly, she giggled. 'His fur is so silky' Ichigo thought, as she felt someone tap her shoulder. She turned to see that the green monkey had come up to her and was giving her the big puppy dog eyes look. She smiled and started rubbing his cheek as well, causing him to squeak slightly in happiness. He nuzzled into her side and curled up on her lap, happily purring. (Hope you don't mind that your boyfriend being affectionate, Jet!) The red monkey shot up to her and pushed Otto off of her lap and took his place, grinning up at her before hugging her tightly, with his face squashed into her chest. He said something to the other monkeys and she noticed the yellow monkey had stopped running. Nova turned and glared at the red monkey, who was oblivious to anything around him. The other monkeys and Ichigo watched as Nova stomped over and shouted at Sprx, who mumbled something in response. And, through the amazing authoress powers I have, we shall listen to this riveting conversation!

"What do you think you doing, Sprx?" called Nova, standing behind as Sprx continued to nuzzle and drool over Ichigo. Nova felt her last nerve being stepped on and the vein in her head was growing bigger and bigger. "Well?" she tried to control her voice, which was cracking up slightly,

"I'm just hugging our new friend, Ichigo. That's all." he replied innocently, (coughyeahrightcough).

"Like heck, that's all!" shouted Nova, "you're rubbing against her chest on purpose!" Sprx turned his head slightly to look at her,

"So what if I am? At least she doesn't beat the crud out of me, like _someone _I know" he turned back and he heard Nova splutter slightly,

"So... that's it, is it?" she choked, "you just like her cos she's all nice and let's you hug her? I bet you like her much more than nasty old me, right?" Sprx turned around and looked at Nova, wide-eyed. He saw that Nova was on the verge of crying, although she was trying to conceal it. His face softened and as he got off Ichigo's lap and walked over to Nova, she quickly looked away. He turned her face back to his,

"Of course not" he whispered, wrapping his arms around her. "You mean more to me than _anything_. Got that?" he looked into Nova's eyes and smiled sincerely at her. She smiled at him and wrapped her arms around him, "Really?" she said, her voice filled with hope, he laughed quietly,

"Yeah" he said as he slid his lips onto hers. Nova's eyes grew wide in amazement, before she closed them and pushed back into the kiss. They moaned slightly and Nova's arms moved up to wrap around his neck. They stayed like that for ages until Gibson coughed slightly, causing them both to realise they were being watched. They parted and blushed slightly.

"Gibson!" complained Chiro, from behind them,

"What?" asked Gibson, offended, looking around as the others minus Ichigo muttered about him ruining moments and being jealous and needing a life. Gibson crossed his arms and stormed off to the Super Robot, Otto soon followed and Ichigo got up and walked in with Antauri accompanying her as she chatted amiably to Chiro about what had changed in the past six years.

Nova and Sprx stood and stared at the ground,

"So..." started Sprx, leaving it hanging, hoping Nova would think of something to say. When she continued to stare at her feet, he coughed and continued, "Maybe...maybe we should go in and get to know Chiro's friend properly, huh?" he asked.

"Uh...uh. Yeah" said Nova hesitantly, then she reached over and took his hand in hers. Sprx looked down from their hands then up at Nova in shock, she smiled back and winked slightly before tugging him along behind her into the Super Robot.

Viola! There it is! And I wasn't mean to Sprx at all, in fact, I think I was quite nice!

Ichigo: I've arrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiived! Finally! After how many chapters? (Glares at Whitefairy)

WF: (sweat drops) Eh heh heh. So, tell me what you think? Too mushy? Too girly? Needs more violence? Review and tell me.


	5. Late Night Confessions

Disclaimer: (dances around holding an 'I own nothing' sign up)

Thanks to:

A Fan of Romance: yay! A fluff fan! I'll try and add some more where I can.

Beastfire: WF: (watches Sprx fly through wall with Ivy following) Wow! I never knew Sprx could scream that high- pitched! Oh, um. Sorry there wasn't that much violence. I decided to take Anonymous but Interested's side for a chapter and be a bit nicer to him.

4Everobotmonkeyfan: LOL I think you may be right about Antauri enjoying being petted! (Looks over to see Ichigo petting Antauri again)

Antauri: (blushes and drools) Eheheheheheheheh...

And I'm glad you enjoyed the fluff moment; tell me if you want any more!

Twister91: EEP! (Hides under Antauri) I'm guessing that's permission to use Jet in this!

Ichigo: (blinks rather naively she's a bit of a ditz y'see) Aaaaw but I'm just _being nice_ (hugs Otto and carries on petting him) and he's so cute and squishy and friendly (goes on)

Antauri: (growls and mutters at Otto) she's _my _girl.

WF: (watches Jet foam at the mouth and twitch) coooooool...

Guy who reads too much fantasy: Actually, I read somewhere that some albinos have pink (or violet! wow!) eyes, but most have blue eyes. There are even a few with brown or hazel eyes! There are some albinos who only have a slight discolouration too, so they don't even have white hair and skin. See? You even learn something in this story! (Grins smugly)

Anonymous But Interested: (jingles happily) I'm so glad you think so!

A/N: For anyone who isn't sure how to pronounce Ichigo's name it's _e-chee-goo._

**Late Night Confessions (with a cameo appearance of Twister's OC, Jet)**

Everyone, except Ichigo, was now sitting in the main room on their chairs, discussing a very important issue.

"I want pepperoni!" yelled Sprx, waving a menu around.

"Eurgh!" exclaimed Jet, Otto's girlfriend (happy now, Jet?), wrinkling her nose in disgust, "Sprx! You _know _I'm a vegetarian!"

Yes, they were trying to do the impossible once again, this time they were trying to... (Cue deep, thundery voice) choose what pizza toppings to have!

"Can we get back to the real problem at hand?" asked Gibson loudly, causing Jet and Sprx to stop arguing and turn back to him, looking ashamed. Gibson crossed his arms,

"Thank you." he said, before pointing to a diagram, "As you all know, we face a real dilemma. Ichigo is going to be living here for quite some time and it won't do if she can't understand us. She would be in grave danger if the Skeleton King attacked because she wouldn't understand what was happening. Now, what we need to do is..." Gibson was interrupted by the sound of a drill, when it stopped he continued, "As I was saying..." this time a hammer banging interfered, when it stopped he continued again, "we could..." then there was a slam as the door opened and Otto appeared, holding something that looked extremely like what Gibson's diagram showed. He ran in and shoved Gibson out of the way, holding his invention high in the air,

"I just finished my translator! How cool is that? Now Ichigo can understand us!" he exclaimed, whilst Gibson fumed and cried about how unfair it was that Otto kept building what he was explaining about. Antauri took the translator from Otto and admired the invention.

Meanwhile, the rest of the team sweat dropped at the blue monkey raving and crying on the floor,

"Hey! Show a bit more respect! At least I bother making the stuff instead of showing off and bragging about what to do like some snob!" Otto complained, hearing some of Gibson's comments,

"Who are you calling a snob!" Gibson cried, leaping off the floor and facing Otto.

And as most of the monkey team watched them argue on, Antauri snuck out of the room unnoticed. He floated up to the private quarters and tapped on a door that had a 'Hang in There Baby' poster on it. (LOL I love those!)

"Come in" he heard a soft voice say, and, as he entered, the sound of music met his ears. Ichigo smiled over at him from where she was hanging clothes in her new wardrobe. He looked around at all the different things that had already been placed out. On the bed was a multitude of stuffed animals, all varying in colour and size, next to the bed was a bedside desk with a small stereo on it and a pile of CDs next to them. On the other side of the room was a large chest of drawers with masses of make-up and photos on it, as well as a large mirror. Up on the wall was a bookshelf that had a small collection of books, mostly fantasy types, comics and schoolbooks, and all around, on the walls, were posters. Some had funny pictures and slogans on them, others had bands, and some even had cartoon characters on them. He noticed there was a large, decorated chest in the corner near Ichigo with _Ichigo's Costume Chest_ written out in diamantes. He raised an eyebrow at it, but Ichigo couldn't see as her back was to him.

"What's wrong, Antauri?" she asked after a few minutes of silence, but she still continued to pack away her things. He floated over to her and she heard him chatter at her happily before holding up a small black disc- shaped thing. She looked down at it curiously and she felt Antauri brush her hair behind her ear. She giggled slightly at the tickly feeling from it then she felt Antauri slip something into her ear. She gasped and jerked away suddenly,

"Wha-what are you doing?" she asked in a hushed voice that had a nervous edge to it, Antauri floated back slightly,

"Making it easier for you to cope with us" he replied in a deep, rich voice that shocked Ichigo.

"You... you spoke! What? Uh... how? But..." Antauri placed a finger to her lips to silence her flow of questions and tapped on the translator in her ear.

"A gift from Otto" he said smiling, Ichigo relaxed and smiled as well. She watched him float around her room, looking at different things. She went back to packing away her things then she saw him admiring the different photos and drawings she'd kept with her and tracing around the people and objects in them. She raised an eyebrow slightly,

"What are you doing?" she couldn't help asking,

"Just admiring your handiwork" he replied, floating up to her shoulder. She smiled over at him before resuming her work. He looked around, trying to thinking of something to kick- start a conversation,

"The others are trying to decide on what topping to have on the pizza they're ordering! What would you like?" he asked quickly, feeling awkward yet not wanting to leave Ichigo's company yet. He couldn't understand it; he'd never pined for companionship before, yet he just didn't want to leave Ichigo. Ever since they'd come in and Chiro had shown Ichigo her room, he'd kept thinking of reasons to come up and stay near her.

"I don't mind" Ichigo said simply, not looking away from her task.

"Huh?" Antauri said, very intelligently, having been broken out of his thoughts. Ichigo giggled and turned to him, putting a black dress on a hanger whilst she spoke,

"I said, I don't mind" she repeated, smiling at him sincerely. He blushed slightly from embarrassment and put his hand behind his head sheepishly,

"Oh OK!" he said, giving her a slightly lopsided smile. They waited, looking at each other expectedly then around the room. After a few minutes, Antauri swung his arms nervously,

"I.. I guess I'll go down and see if they've decided then" he said finally, though he really didn't want to go, starting to float backwards toward the door. He saw a flash of something go through Ichigo's eyes but it was soon gone. He wasn't sure what it was. Relief? Confusion? Anger? Sadness? The last one seemed to be said by a little voice in the back of his mind and it shocked him to hear that suggestion. Sad? Why would she be sad that he was going? Unless... she _wanted _him to stay. He noticed Ichigo playing with the fabric of the dress in her hands and she'd stopped looking at him,

"You don't have to go... if you don't want to" she said shyly, her pale face turning pink as she said this. Antauri felt his chest swell at this comment, she wanted his company! He happily flew back to her side and picked up a hanger and another dress, hanging the dress on the hanger and placing it in the wardrobe. He looked to his side to see Ichigo staring at him slightly; when she realised he was looking at her, she focused on hanging her clothes with her face now slightly more red.

A few hours and few arguments later, everyone was sitting around happily full and looking rather tired. Chiro was the first to turn in, followed by Otto and Jet. Next; were Sprx and Nova, who seemed to be sharing 'suggestive' looks, then the rest finally decided to go to bed.

Ichigo shifted around in her bed, unhappily, she'd known this would happen. She could never get to sleep in a new bed. Ichigo sighed in defeat, giving up on any hopes of sleep, and sat up. She put on the lamp on her bedside desk (yeah I forgot to mention that was there too) and picked a book off her shelf. She sat back in bed, hoping that an old favourite would help her sleep. She was just about to start when she heard a sudden clatter, followed by hurried footsteps. She froze and listened, straining her ears to pick up any noises they could, there was some quiet mumbling and more footsteps. Then the sound of drawers opening and shutting. Her old protective baby sitter ways, as well as her curiosity, got the better of her and she climbed out of bed to go investigate.

As she crept down the darkened corridor, she felt the adrenaline flowing through her, prepping her ready to beat the heck out of whatever it was, or run screaming. Depending on what it was. She noticed light flooding out of an open door and decided to peek in. She peeped around the edge and found out it was a kitchen, but she couldn't see anyone in there. She crept in as quietly as she could and jumped at the sound of crashing in a cupboard nearby. Her eyes widened and her heart started to pump like mad as she reached out for the handle. But, before she could reach it, the door flew open and a pair of wide, glowing green eyes stared out at her. Then Ichigo did what any brave, noble, mature sixteen year old would do.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" she shrieked, scampering backwards and falling over. She scuttled back on all fours as the eyes came closer to her out of the darkness. She whimpered and put her hands over her head, closing her eyes,

"Please... please don't hurt me!" she sobbed softly, bracing for the final blow.

"Ichigo?" she heard a familiar deep voice ask, she opened her eyes and looked at the cupboard to see Antauri dangling out with a cookie in his mouth and a glass of chocolate milk in his hand, he even had one of those chocolate milk moustaches. (Passes out from cuteness) "An- Antauri!" said Ichigo incredulously, standing up and walking over to him. She plucked him off of the cupboard and sat on the edge of the kitchen worktop with Antauri in her lap. She waited for him to finish eating his cookie and drinking his milk.

"Why... were you in that cupboard?" she asked, looking from said cupboard to the black robot monkey in her lap. He blushed a little and twiddled his fingers before answering,

"I was... uh...sneaking a treat before going to bed" he admitted shamefully. Ichigo raised an eyebrow,

"Sneaking?" she repeated for clarification, looking at him sceptically. He blushed more and hung his head,

"Yea- yeah" he confessed, "You see, we...um... have a rule of no sweets before bed. For... Chiro's sake really. Because he won't get to sleep otherwise." Ichigo nodded and her face softened,

"But you couldn't resist." she finished knowingly. Hey, she'd done it herself many times. She stroked the back of his head soothingly, "it's OK. I understand." she said softly. He looked up at her and smiled,

"Really?" he asked, her smile grew bigger and she nodded. He frowned suddenly,

"And you won't tell anyone?" he asked, trying the big puppy dog eyes on her. She felt her heart just melt at that sight and hugged him close,

"Of course not!" she mumbled into his fur. They hugged for many minutes, Ichigo still stroking Antauri's fur soothingly. But, unfortunately, Ichigo started to develop a crick in her back and the adrenaline was wearing off, leaving her very very tired. She pulled back and realised Antauri had fallen asleep. She smiled slightly at such a cute sight and yawned. She wasn't sure if she could make it back to her bed, she felt completely weighed down by sleep. She looked around and saw that the kitchen lead into the main room,

'I'll just take a quick nap in one of the chairs then take Antauri to his room and go back to mine.' she decided, getting up and carrying Antauri in her arms as she walked into the main room and sat down in Antauri's chair. She felt Antauri snuggle closer in his sleep and, soon, she was curled up fast asleep as well.

Need...sleep. Can't... open...left eye. Ending here...going to bed. Hope you liked your cameo Jet... (Smacks head on keyboard as she falls asleep) zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...


	6. A Friend Lost

Disclaimer: Cookies!

Thanks to:

A Fan of Romance: (head swells from ego-boosting) he he. Thanks!

Beastfire: (blushes) yes! Yes, of course you can. Wow, that's like, _super flattering _to me! (Blushes even more)

Ichigo: You're trusting a maniac with my life!

WF: (still blushing) Yep! (Turns normal for a moment) But, can I ask you to wait until I've got near the end of my story before putting Ichigo in yours? Cos, (shifty eyes) _something _is going to happen to Ichigo that will change her for good!

Ichigo: (sweat drops) what?

WF...

Ichigo: What? What is it! Tell me!

WF: No.

4Everobotmonkeyfan: WF :( watches Antauri dancing around happily) Yes, I think it's safe to say love makes Antauri go OOC. But, hey, who doesn't? And, I'll need to get Animefangirl11's permission before I use her character. But, Jet only appeared cos she was hanging me over a pot of boiling lava and threatening me that she had to be in it to save Otto or else! (Joking!) And I have read Animefangirl11's stories, and I would review too, if my computer would let me. I think it hates popup windows. Or me. Or both.

Twister91: Phew. I'm glad I got that right at least! So no more going psycho on Ichigo for being nice to Otto?

Anonymous but Interested: Aww (huggles you) you're too sweet to me!

**A Friend Lost**

Ichigo murmured as she awoke, shifting slightly.

"Shh shhh! She's waking up!" she heard some movements and, as she opened her eyes, she heard someone else stirring beside her. She opened her eyes fully and saw a pair of big, green eyes staring into hers. Ichigo jumped back and hit her head on the top of Antauri's chair, she looked around slightly confused at first then last night seemed to leak back into her mind. She looked down at her arms to see Antauri was also waking up. He looked up at her and, as she saw realisation dawn on his face, he blushed and looked down again,

"I'm so sorry for falling asleep on you, Ichigo! I...I guess I was more tired than I thought I was and you were so warm and soothing..." she heard a smack as Antauri covered his mouth to stop him saying anymore.

"Carry on, Antauri!" they heard a teasing voice say close by followed by a snicker,

"Oh yes Antauri! Please, do continue!" they heard a different voice say, before there was an eruption of laughter.

Antauri and Ichigo looked at each other and Antauri moved out of the warmth and soothing calm of Ichigo's arms as Ichigo uncurled herself and stood up out of Antauri's chair. She stretched languidly and looked over at the rest of the monkey team, who were in hysterics. She looked back at Antauri, who seemed to be collecting himself,

"And what, pray tell, is so amusing?" he asked, his voice still shaking slightly from waking in Ichigo's arms. The others seemed to find this hilarious and soon they were off again.

Once they had got a hold of themselves again, Otto came over with a camcorder and showed Ichigo and Antauri a recording of themselves asleep curled up and hugging each other causing the pair to blush and fluster slightly.

"I...I um...Ineedtogogetreadyforuni, bye!" stammered Ichigo quickly, before taking off up to her room, her face burning redder than Sprx when he's sunburnt. This left Antauri to try and think his way out too; being in such a state he said the first thing that came to mind,

"I'll go help!" he blurted out, then he realised what he said and he blushed even more fiercely and the others continued to laugh, "I...I..." he looked around desperately before taking off out of the main room, his face now starting to fry because it was so red.

He knocked on Ichigo's door and when he heard a very timid 'come in' he rushed in. Ichigo looked over at him and blushed again, looking away.

"I'm... sorry that I left you back there, Antauri" she apologised in a very quiet voice, causing Antauri's heart to melt at how sweet it sounded. He floated up to her and gently pulled her face around to look at him; he gave her a sincere smile and whispered,

"Don't be... I liked sleeping with you." Ichigo looked shocked at that and Antauri placed his free hand on her cheek, stroking it lovingly, "And...And I wouldn't mind doing it again... sometime" Antauri felt his cheeks turn red again as Ichigo placed a hand on his cheek, stroking it also, and their faces neared. Their lips had barely touched when the intercom interrupted them and they quickly broke apart. Antauri sighed and hung his head, whilst Ichigo spoke to the 'moment- killer' aka Gibson. (Yes it's him again) After Ichigo had assured Gibson that she would be heading out soon and that she wouldn't be late, she turned back to Antauri and giggled slightly. She stroked her finger around Antauri's cheek and left it under his chin as he turned to look at her,

"See you after school, then?" she asked, kissing him lightly on the nose. He smiled at her in a lovesick way and nodded. He watched her leave and head out into Shugazoom City for her first day of uni and let out a happy sigh.

4 hours, that was how long it had been since Ichigo had left, and Antauri was _bored_. He'd already exacted his revenge on the others for mocking him this morning, especially Gibson for ruining his first kiss; he'd eaten breakfast, washed, and brushed his teeth as well. He'd tried to meditate, but his mind kept drifting back to Ichigo and waking up in her arms. He floated in the air, staring at the ceiling, and sighed to himself.

'I wonder what she's doing now?' he pondered for the millionth time, then he tried to remember what subjects Ichigo was studying. Dance was one, Art was another, he strained to remember what Chiro had said, and Drama. That was it. He looked back at the hated clock and saw that it had taken him a whole 2 minutes to remember that, he growled in frustration. He desperately wanted something to take his boredom off his mind,

'_Anything' _he thought, 'just as long as it keeps me from staring at that cursed clock!' As if on cue, the alert rang and the monkey team quickly rushed to the main room to see what they had to stop today. It was Formless, _millions _of them, all swarming the city and heading towards the Super Robot.

"Let's go team!" shouted Chiro as they ran for their tubes, (I can't be bothered to do the whole activation sequence)

"GO!" they called from their parts of the Robot, and then they proceeded to squash the Formless. Though they did put up some sort of resistance, it was over very soon and the monkey team relaxed once again. Sprx bragged about how easy it had been and Gibson turned on the radio to hear if the Formless had really left the city.

'..._Meanwhile, the city is safe again thanks to the Super Robot Monkey Team Hyper Force!' _Sprx's head started to swell up with his ego _' Most places vandalised aren't badly damaged and there were no casualties.' _everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but then the news bulletin continued, _'hold...hold on a minute folks! It seems that the Formless **did **manage to cause some trouble, after all! It appears half of Shugazoom University has collapsed and, witnesses say, the Formless ran off with a hostage!' _the Monkey team sat up and they all seemed to know who it was before the reporter described her, _'The hostage has been described as female, short, around sixteen years of age, and with very long white hair and blue eyes. We'll bring you more details as we get them' _Gibson managed to turn off the radio, and then his arm fell limp to his side. They looked at each other before hearing a door slam. They looked around and realised someone else was gone... Antauri.

He felt the air burning his lungs as he flew at top speed to reach the site. Students, teachers, firemen, medical staff and policemen all littered the site, trying their best to help those who had been caught in it and get them sent off to the hospital or to safety. Antauri stopped and looked up at the once- grand gothic building that was Shugazoom University. The back half had collapsed and only a few pillars were still standing, the last remains of what had started as a normal day. Antauri felt tears prick his eyes as he flew into the rubble, digging and searching. He needed to find her, he just _needed_ to! But he knew the truth, she was gone, taken by the Skeleton King, yet he just didn't want to accept it. He wanted to her to walk over to him and tell him that they'd described some other girl. But there were no other albinos in Shugazoom, just one. Ichigo. _His _Ichigo, the one he loved with all his heart and was gone because of him. Yes, it was his fault; he berated himself angrily whilst he continued to dig furiously, hoping against sense itself that he would find her. Then he suddenly stopped, before him on the once beautiful mosaic floor lay something that told him what he hadn't wanted to believe. He bent down and shakily brought it to his face, uncovering the dirt on it with his hands. He dropped to his knees when he was sure of what it was.

"Ichigo's necklace..." he said numbly, and then the entire outside world seemed to stop as he stared at the thing Ichigo prized most of all and would never be without.

"Without this" she'd said, showing him the necklace as it dangled in front of his face, "I would be truly lost, it has all my hope, faith, and dreams in it"

"She's gone" he realised, and sobs started to rack his body, "Gone. And it's all my fault." he fell forwards and clutched the necklace close to his chest, letting his tears run onto it. "Because of me, Skeleton King has her. He's taken her." suddenly he felt nothing but hatred towards Skeleton King, hatred and loathing. He wanted to Skeleton King to hurt he did. He wanted him to pay, cry, and bleed for what he'd done. He wanted his Ichigo back and he would go to any lengths to do it "And I'm going to get her back!" he growled.

Well, that's it. Antauri's set his sights on getting back the girl he loves! So what do you think? Lovin' it? Loathin' it? I can't promise a massive fight scene cos I get bored writing them, but I'll try and make it action- packed!


	7. A Lover Gained

Disclaimer: jingle! (Jingles bell around neck)

Thanks to:

Guy who reads too much fantasy: True... I guess I didn't think of it at the time. And as for it being connected to Antauri's dream: maybe. (Grins mischievously)

Beastfire: He he, flatter fest. And yeah, pretty amazing that they're together now. When I first started writing this I had their first kiss differently planned, especially without the Moment Killer, well, moment killing.

4Everobotmonkeyfan: Language, there are children reading...I think. If there are then they're going against the censorship rules! But I don't think I'll have Antauri kill Skeleton King, it's not something he'd do plus Ichigo wouldn't approve. And also, I wouldn't have a bad guy for any sequels! (Gasps) Maybe I'll just have Antauri pummel him instead, that sound good?

A Fan of Romance: LOL short and sweet!

Anonymous But Interested: Good! I hope I'll keep it up in the last few chapters. Unless anyone wants me to continue and make an epilogue. (Looks around)

Twister91: (runs and hugs guinea pigs) cuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuute!

Ichigo: (runs in and hugs them too) I luv guinea pigs!

WF: Hey! Go back to being kidnapped!

A/N: I bought and read four Tokyo Mew Mew novels at once! And anyone who's read them knows how sappy and girly they make you! So, just a warning to hardcore action fans, this will definitely have a HUGE amount of sappiness in it somewhere.

**A Lover Gained**

The Monkey Team watched as Antauri stood in the rain. They looked at each other, but no one could think of anything to say. Antauri had yet to show any signs of life, he'd just sat in the ruins of the Shugazoom University staring at the necklace in his hands.

Finally, he stood up and the others prepped themselves to comfort him anyway necessary. He turned to look at them and the others gasped in sync, his eyes looked hollow and dark. Like endless pits of sadness with no escape, yet; in that pit, there was a spark of something else. Anger, pure and utter hatred, and they could all guess who at. He closed his eyes and some life seemed to return to them, he walked up to them.

"We thought you'd slipped into a coma just then, Antauri" joked Sprx, walking up to Antauri. Antauri walked past him without acknowledging him and continued back towards the Super Robot. Sprx looked back and humphed, "I was just trying to lighten the mood! Geez..." he mumbled. Chiro then tried his turn, he ran and tried to keep in pace with Antauri's brisk walk,

"So, what's the plan, Antauri?" he asked in a confident voice, trying to get a glimpse of Antauri's face. Antauri didn't respond, instead he kept on walking with his head down so his face was obscured by shadows.

Chiro looked back, helplessly, at the others, who gave him encouraging looks. He turned back to Antauri and tried again,

"Come on! You must have a plan! We're all here for you!" he tried again, hoping it would work. Antauri stopped suddenly, causing Chiro to trip forwards and land in front of him. He looked up into Antauri's face to see him staring at him thoughtfully. Chiro felt the sweat appear on the back of his head under Antauri's gaze,

"So...uh...how 'bout it, Antauri? Want to tell us your plan?" he asked, hoping not to sound too nervous.

"Chiro, I believe it's best if you and the rest of the team stay here" said Antauri in a distant and very weak voice. Chiro was so shocked by how weak Antauri's voice sounded that it took a while for him to realise what Antauri had said.

"Wha- what!" he cried, jumping off the ground and staring down at Antauri, "are you nuts! We're not going to let you go in there alone! What if Skeleton King captures you? Or... worse..." he trailed off when Antauri held up his hand.

"Please, Chiro. I would prefer it if you stayed here. This is a personal matter now" Chiro stared at Antauri, incredulously, before glaring down at the black monkey,

"Personal matter! Like, heck it is! We _all _care about her, Antauri!" Chiro gestured wildly as he bent down to glare in the monkey's face. Antauri looked away and continued quietly,

"Not as much as I do" he stared down again and Chiro felt anger swell up in him,

"Oh yeah? You've only known her for two _days_! I've known her for years! I think I might just care about her a little bit more!" he snapped, "She was my best friend when she lived here! I could always go to her with problems! I love her like a sister!"

"WELL I LOVE HER LIKE A LOVER!" bellowed Antauri, he panted slightly and Chiro noticed he was trembling. He shook like a leaf and Chiro watched tears well up in his eyes,

"I...love her, and it's...my...my fault she's..." Chiro watched as the most composed member of the team collapsed to his knees, broke down, and cried. He felt guilt creep up his chest and he walked over and patted Antauri on the back.

"Hey" he said softly, "we'll get her back. Don't blame yourself" Antauri looked up at him and Chiro smiled. Antauri smiled a small watery smile and wiped away his tears. He stood up again and looked up at Chiro,

"You're right, Chiro. I'm sorry" he looked around at the rest of the team,

"We've got your back, Antauri!" shouted Nova, giving him a thumbs up.

"Yeah!" called Otto, punching the air "Ol' Bone Bag hasn't beaten us yet!"

"I'm sure we'll think of an excellent plan to thwart whatever he has in mind for Ichigo" said Gibson confidently, then Sprx ran up and slapped Antauri on the back,

"Yeah! Besides, we've gotta get your girl back so you'll lighten up again!" he joked.

Antauri smiled at them all and nodded,

"Thank you, my friends" he said, nodding to them.

"Now let's go beat that cruddy bag of bones! Hyper Force GO!" Chiro shouted, as they all cheered and ran back to the Super Robot. And, as they ran, Antauri looked up at the clouds and thought, 'whatever he's done to you, Ichigo, I hope you're safe.'

But, up in the Citadel of Bone, Ichigo was far from feeling safe. She pulled against the straps holding her tight against a metal wall. She struggled and tugged as hard as she could, but the thick leather straps were probably made to hold monsters twenty times stronger than her. She stopped struggling and sighed; suddenly a door on the opposite side of the room slid open and in walked a mutated orange _thing_. Ichigo stared in horror at the creature as it neared her and she kicked out wildly, trying to free herself. The mutated thing chuckled at her futile attempts and came closer still until their noses were touching. She froze and stared into his beady, cold black eyes, she noticed he was taller than her, because she was being lifted off the floor by the straps and a tail swished around behind him, causing lines of the ground to melt when it touched it. She wriggled as far back as she could, which wasn't much considering she was strapped to a flat metal wall.

He smirked at her actions and brought a hand up to touch her face, running it over every curve in her features,

"Beautiful..." he muttered, as she tried to pull her face out of his grasp, "and feisty too! You'll be perfect"

"Perfect for what?" she asked, frozen as she watched him move away. He stopped and looked back her,

"You understand me? Excellent!" he cried, before frowning and walking back to her. "But how?" he questioned, turning her face from side to side, before spotting the translator in her ear. "Ah! This is how!" he cried, plucking it out and examining it. Ichigo listened to him chatter in an impressed way, and then she watched him glance at her briefly and crush the translator as if it were nothing.

"NO!" she cried, leaning forwards, she looked back up at him, "WHY!" she asked, tears starting to form in her eyes. He looked at her, unimpressed with her reaction, before dismissing it and returning to his work.

She felt anger bubble up in her and she struggled wildly against the bonds that held her captive.

"LET ME GO!" she screamed, banging her feet and wrists against the wall, "LET ME GO NOW!"

She heard him screaming at her and she suddenly felt vulnerable and frightened, he pressed a button on the panel and she felt herself being lifted and moved backwards. She squirmed and managed to see over her shoulder that she was being moved into a large, strange looking box. There were wires running through it and she gasped and struggled again,

"STOP! NO! PLEASE, LET ME GO!" she cried, tears flowing down her face, "ANTAURI!" she screamed, as she floated into the box, "ANTAUR-" she was cut off as the door to the box slammed shut on her. And with it, her hopes of escaping were gone.

"Uh!" said Sprx as a laser nailed him in the shoulder. They were in a corridor, filled with Formless and lasers popping out of every crevice, heading to where Antauri had picked up Ichigo's mind. "Anyone got any plans? Cos now would be a great time for sharing!" he said as he blasted a Formless that leapt at him.

Gibson noticed a pool full of goo nearby and ran to it, plunging his drill into it and making a goo cyclone which destroyed the remaining Formless and clogged the lasers.

"Nice" said Otto in awe as Gibson soaked in the glory of his victory.

"Come on!" called Chiro as they ran through a doorway. They followed it in the dim light until it reached a lab of some kind.

They all stopped in their tracks and looked around them at all the machines whirring and tubes filled with liquid. Antauri narrowed his eyes and focused on Ichigo's mind. He followed it to a box shaped device,

"In here!" he called, and was about to cut into it with his razor claws when Mandarin dropped out of nowhere in front of him. (Yeah that's who it was earlier if you couldn't work it out. Sorry, my descriptions suck)

"You will not ruin my plans again!" he screamed before knocking Antauri back. The others caught him and, together, they rushed at Mandarin, who managed to hold back their attacks.

Then Sprx sent a Magna Tingler Blast through the floor, shocking Mandarin and Gibson drilled through the floor so a large crack appeared and Mandarin fell through. He screamed as he fell, his screams getting fainter as he fell further. They waited a few moments before running up and blasting through the door of the box. The dim light poured into the small space, lighting up a small figure huddled in the middle of it. Antauri ran in and turned her over. He gasped and stood back in shock,

"Ichigo!" he asked in disbelief.

And I'll leave it there! (Ducks things being thrown at her) I know I'm mean to stop there, but I'm tired and it'll keep you all interested hopefully. I know I updated lateish, but that's cos I was camping all weekend! So, to make up for it, here's a snippet of next chapter:

"I...I still can't believe it!" Ichigo whispered, stroking a hand across her face, "I'm...I'm..."

"Beautiful" cut in Antauri, walking into her room and flying over to her, "that's what I think. It's what I've always thought..." he whispered, stroking her hand gently.


	8. New Destiny

Disclaimer: (still hugging Twister91's guinea pigs) so cute!

Ichigo: (still hugging them too) Yeah!

Antauri: What about me?

Ichigo: (gives Jet back a guinea pig then glomps Antauri) and you're the most handsome monkey in the whoooooooooooooooooooooole universe!

Antauri: (blushes) Aaaaw thanks!

WF: A-_hem _anyway...

Thanks to:

Twister 91: (does big sad teary puppy dog eyes) A-a-ashamed!

Ichigo: Oh no

WF: (runs off crying) WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Ichigo: Wait, WF! You've still got reviews to answer! Oh, I guess _I'll _do them! Anyway, thanks for info on their names! Now, I wonder where you got them from. LOL

Guy who reads too much fantasy: Dark, huh? Hmm... Never thought of that. And Mandarin isn't that tall, I'm that short! Chiro is shortest and comes up to my eye level, and you see in the series that Mandarin is _way _taller than Chiro, so if you work it out, Mandarin is pretty tall compared to me!

4Everobotmonkeyfan: (eyes widen) Antauri's been dreaming of me! (Looks at Antauri) You never told me!

Antauri: (sweat drops) It wasn't you. It was a girl monkey!

Ichigo: (sighs) Antauri I _am-_ (WF runs in and slaps a hand over Ichigo's mouth)

WF: (whispers) don't ruin it!

A Fan of Romance: Everyone: (stares)...

Ichigo: should we tell'em?

WF: We could...

Both: (look at each other) Nah. (Grin)

Beastfire: You were in New York! Yeesus, I have a hard time in London, never mind places _that _hectic and busy! I'm surprised you didn't go mad! And you went to bed at 2:30am and...Are alive at noon! Man, you're Super girl! LOL

**New destiny**

"Ichigo!" Antauri cried in disbelief as he leapt back. The team came over and stared down too, bug eyed. Before them lay (which most of you guessed anyway) another robot monkey. She was a lot shorter than the others, white, with a pink tummy and arms, the end of her tail was also pink and her legs and eyes were blue. On her forehead was a shining pink heart- shaped gem and behind her floated magnetically- connected wings that were also white. All in all, she looked rather... angelic. Antauri ogled at her in shock,

'It's the monkey from my dreams!' he thought, leaning down to stroke her cheek, 'she's real!' then it sunk in, '_Ichigo_ is the girl monkey. It wasn't a dream that I had! It was a...premonition...' As he thought, he remembered the rest of the dream and what she'd said to him. His eyes softened and he picked her up gently, holding her close and cradling her slightly.

"I love you" he whispered, nuzzling her soft, white fur happily,

"I love you too" came a mumbled reply in his ear. Antauri jumped slightly and held her out at arm's length,

"Ichigo, you're awake!" he asked, she smiled at him sleepily and looked around,

"Where are we? What's going on?" she asked, looking around the box. Then realisation hit her, she gasped and turned back to Antauri, "I... I was trapped in a box by some weird looking monkey! Then... then..." she felt something swish behind her and turned to confront...her tail.

"TAIL!" she cried, gazing at said object that wagged in response, "But... I ...uh...how...when?" she stopped suddenly and slowly reached up to touch her face. Her eyes widen when she came in contact with fur, "fur..." she said weakly, and then she screamed shrilly and passed out.

Ichigo opened her eyes to find herself lying in her bed in the Super Robot, she murmured slightly and turned over onto her side.

"Good morning" came a soft deep voice from beside her; she turned and looked to see Antauri sitting on the edge of her bed. He smiled softly at her, "how are you feeling?" he asked. She chuckled slightly,

"I feel like _monkeying _around a little" she joked, crawling over to him and hugging him. Antauri rolled his eyes at her joke and hugged her back,

"I hope you won't make bad jokes like that all the time" he asked in mock worry, she laughed at him and pretended to think.

"Hmmm... only if you annoy too much" she warned, wrapping her tail around his waist too. He watched this with mild amusement,

"I see you've found a use for your...extra limb" he commented, Ichigo smirked and whispered,

"And I'm sure I'll think of many more" she ran a hand up his back as she said this, causing him to shiver slightly. He smirked back and was about to land a kiss when he noticed something,

"You seem much more calm and fine with being monkey today. What happened?" he asked, raising an eyebrow slightly,

Ichigo shrugged slightly, dismissing his concerns,

"I didn't see any point in getting worked up over something I can't control" she explained, "and I'll be stuck like this so I'll have to get used to it" she added as an afterthought. Antauri looked down at her,

"How did you know you'd be stuck like this? I never told you." Ichigo tapped the side of her head,

"I'm clairvoyant now" she stated proudly, Antauri looked at her in a disbelieving way, so she continued; "I'll show you! I'll read your mind right now"

She closed her eyes and Antauri noticed the gem on her forehead glow slightly, then he had an idea and thought of something in particular, Ichigo smiled and reopened her eyes. She nuzzled into his embrace and closed her eyes again,

"Yes" she said, seemingly out of the blue. Antauri hugged her tighter and smiled

"Really?" he asked looking her in the eyes. She sent him a thought and soon they were caught in a passionate kiss. They didn't part until Gibson appeared and dropped the paperwork he was carrying, in shock at the sight before him,

"Oh! Um...sorry!" he apologised sheepishly as the couple stared at him. Ichigo giggled slightly at being caught whilst Antauri sent a mini-glare in Gibson's direction.

They hopped off the bed and helped Gibson take his paperwork to his lab, after which, they went into the main room and consulted the others on what to do next.

"With a new member, we have the element of surprise over Skeleton King. He won't know what to expect from Ichigo, heck, he won't expect Ichigo to attack at all!" said Chiro, whilst he crammed toast into his mouth. Antauri seemed to think about this,

"No, he probably ordered Mandarin to capture her in the first place so he'd know all her powers, and he'd expect us to have Ichigo by our side in battle" he stated, the others nodded solemnly. They all thought over the pros and cons until Nova suddenly yelled,

"Let's just go kick his butt for what they did to Ichigo!" she pumped her fists in the air until Antauri glared at her. She stopped and sat back in her seat, sinking down low.

"Antauri, it's all well thinking of these strategies but we've forgotten that Ichigo doesn't know how to fight! Also, we all don't know what powers she possesses" Gibson pointed out,

"Thank you, Captain Obvious!" said Sprx before turning to Ichigo, "so what _can _you do?" he asked. Ichigo had remained very quiet during this, and now she seemed to shy away from being the centre of attention,

"I don't know" she whispered timidly, hanging her head in shame. "And...I don't want to fight" her voice seemed to get quieter as she spoke until she was muttering. But everyone had heard the most important part,

"What!" shouted Nova, leaping out of her chair again. She ran up to Ichigo and shook her by the shoulders, "why the heck not!" she asked. Ichigo looked down and twiddled her fingers,

"I...I don't like fighting" she whispered, "and..." she looked up and Nova noticed her glance over at a certain black monkey. "I think Skeleton King did me a favour, really."

"WHAT!" said everyone except Antauri, who had understood her glance. But that didn't stop everyone zooming up to her and staring at her amazed, "HOW!" they all said in unison. Ichigo's eyes widened in fear and she turned bright red,

"Because...because..." she said reluctantly, then Antauri jumped up and ran in front of them. They all turned to him,

"Because Ichigo and I are dating!" he announced cheeks ablaze. Everyone stared wide eyed, and there was silence until Sprx stamped his foot,

"Aw dammit! I'm too late!" he said, earning a squeak and blushing from Ichigo, a black eye from Nova and a pounding from an overprotective Antauri. "I was joking" he protested weakly before fainting. Gibson sighed and dragged Sprx into the medical ward with Otto in tow.

Chiro came forwards and looked down into Ichigo's eyes; he smiled in an understanding way, and knelt so he was eye level with her,

"Look, I know you hate fighting, but it'll be best for all of us if you learn how. Please? So you can defend yourself" he reasoned, Ichigo debated it in her head and sighed in defeat. Antauri smiled and put his hand on her shoulder, she turned to look at him,

"It'll be for the best, Ichigo, if I know you can handle yourself, it'll mean less stress and worry about knowing where you are all the time." he said, rubbing her back whilst she let this sink in. She smiled and nodded,

"Oh, alright" she agreed, kissing Antauri lightly on the nose, causing him to blush and splutter slightly, "on one condition though: Sprx is never allowed to be in a room alone with me!"

Everyone looked startled at this,

"Why?" said Antauri, shocked,

"Because of all the... well, _bad _thoughts he kept thinking that involved me!" Ichigo explained, at which point Antauri had to be tied down to keep him from suddenly jumping Sprx and kicking his tail over the moon. And everyone was amazed to learn that Antauri could have a Nova- like vocabulary when he wanted, and Chiro even learnt a few more new words, again!

"Well..." said Ichigo quietly to herself as the chaos continued around her, "I certainly hope this is a good choice" she sweat dropped as Antauri, who had managed to escape his bonds, had landed on Sprx and a massive dust-cloud appeared around them. (I know it's very unAntauriish, but I can just picture that happening!)

Meanwhile, a certain skeleton warlord gazed into his staff at the image of a white monkey, the newest member of the Hyper Force; he chuckled as he heard what she'd said,

"Oh yes, my dear" he rasped, "It _will _be a very good choice... For me!" and his evil laughter rang out through all of his ship.

Well... that's it. The end. And it'll be on to new stories now, hopefully as good as this one. And I want to give a massive thanks to those who've reviewed since the start and been so nice in their reviews! I'll start on a few one-shot funnies soon and maybe even a long story to find out what Skeleton King is plotting too. If anyone wants to borrow Ichigo for their stories then please, do ask! It'll be a pleasure to read how other people have interpreted her! Oh and if you couldn't picture Ichigo as a monkey, or as a human, I'm working on a picture of them which you can have, although don't expect any great masterpiece! Anyway, Review please, any suggestions for new stories and improvements will be greatly appreciated.


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